With the proliferation of computing and networking technologies, two aspects of computing devices have become prevalent: non-traditional (e.g., mouse and keyboard) input mechanisms and smaller form factors. User interfaces for all kinds of software applications have been designed taking typical screen sizes and input mechanisms into account. Thus, user interactions in conventional systems are presumed to be through keyboard and mouse type input devices and a minimum screen size that enables users to interact with the user interface at a particular precision.
Limited display real estate burdens many portable devices from providing full featured content management functionality. Furthermore, gestural commanding is not efficient using conventional menus including support for limited displays or just taking into account where the user's finger/mouse/pen is. Additionally, display devices such as projectors, monitors, and televisions may lack controls for providing content management functionality. Modern software solutions such as on screen keyboards may be awkward to type and encompass valuable display area. Lack of adequate software solutions for managing content on non-traditional devices largely limit device use to content consumption. Carrying multiple devices for content management and consumption defeats portability and unnecessarily takes away from an enriching singular source for content consumption and management.
Limited screen space in mobile devices provide a significant challenge to delivering effective control interfaces. For example, in conventional systems, a desktop application can provide layered menus to partition functionality across menu structures. Lack of display surface forces developers to cut back on deployed features for in control menus for mobile devices. Customization of controls menus in mobile devices tend to be one of the features missing from mobile systems. Most software deployed in mobile systems tend to be locked and rarely enable the user to adjust control surfaces that provides a diminished user experience compared to conventional counterparts.